From nanowires to cubes of CdO: Ethanol gas response

The cadmium oxide (CdO) thin films have been synthesized by chemical bath deposition (CBD) method from an aqueous cadmium acetate solution for different time periods. The effect of film thickness on structural, morphological and wettability properties have been investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and contact angle measurements. The chemically deposited CdO thin films were polycrystalline with face centered cubic crystal structure. The average crystallite size was found to be in the range of 28–31 nm. An interesting morphological transition from nanowires to microcubes was observed with change in deposition time from 25 to 100 h at room temperature. The deposited CdO films exhibit excellent sensing properties against ethanol at 673 K. The 0.8239 μm thick films comprising nanowires deposited for 75 h showed the better ethanol gas performance as compared to other films.

Research highlights▶ The morphological transition from nanowires (NWs) to microcubes (MCs). ▶ The CdO nanowires deposited for 75 h showed the better ethanol gas performance as compared to other films. ▶ The CdO thin films are chemically deposited via acetate medium using CBD method.